Toy balloon ejecting pistols are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,634, for example, discloses a toy balloon ejecting pistol which includes an airtight tubular portion having a mouthpiece at one end and a valve at the other end. A toy balloon is fitted over the valve. The balloon is inflated by blowing air through the mouthpiece and through the valve into the interior of the balloon, the valve acting to prevent the air in the interior of the balloon from escaping. By pulling a trigger, the balloon is separated from the pistol and the air in the balloon rushes out through the neck which causes the balloon to take flight. A similar type of balloon ejecting device is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,228.
However, the balloons ejected from the devices described in the prior art patents referred to in the preceding paragraph are propelled along wild and random flight paths. An important objective of the present invention is to provide a balloon ejecting device which is constructed to impart a rapid spin to the inflated balloon prior to ejection, so that the balloon upon leaving the device is rapidly spinning about its longitudinal axis. This causes the balloon to travel along a given, straight, predictable and prescribed flight path under the propulsion force of the air being emitted through its neck.
An important feature of the invention is that the pistol can be aimed at a given target and then fired to eject the inflated balloon and cause it to travel along a straight flight path toward the target. However, the projected balloon cannot harm the target, so that children can safely play with the pistol without any danger of harm to themselves or to their friends towards which the balloon projectiles may be fired.
In essence, the invention provides a toy balloon ejecting pistol-like device which imparts a rapid spin to an inflated balloon about its longitudinal axis prior to ejection of the balloon, and which releases the balloon while it is rapidly spinning to impart spin stabilization to the balloon. This stabilization maintains the balloon on its prescribed course while the balloon is being propelled along that course by the air jet issuing from its neck as the air within the balloon escapes.